Movable barrier operators are well known in the art. Such mechanisms typically serve to use an electric motor to selectively move a movable barrier between open and closed positions. Such operators often have lighting associated therewith, either integral to the operator housing or physically separated from the operator housing. Many times such lighting will be activated by the operator for the duration of moving the movable barrier from one position to another plus some set period of time thereafter (such as four and one half minutes).
Such prior art solutions are adequate for some applications. There are, however, situations where such solutions are not fully suitable. For example, using the same amount of time to maintain the light in an illuminated state regardless of whether the movable barrier has just closed or just opened constitutes a compromise representing an average solution. Furthermore, present designs usually offer only a fixed selection of lights and a fixed orientation of those lights. Again, such designs are oriented towards satisfying a sense of average demand and not the specific needs of a specific user. Also, such prior art movable barrier operators typically provide a fixed lighting scheme; that is, regardless of what options may otherwise be available, the lights tend to illuminate and extinguish in accordance with an original built-in lighting scheme and offer little user opportunity to customize the scheme in any way.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are typically not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention.